Arts Org Raises Half a Million Dollars for Victims of Warehouse Fire

Published at 1:26 PM PST on Dec 8, 2016

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OAKLAND, CA - DECEMBER 05: Jodel de Oliveira places her hand on a ribbon she left at a makeshift memorial near the site of a warehouse fire that has claimed the lives of at least thirty-six people on December 5, 2016 in Oakland, California. The fire took place during a musical event late Friday night. (Photo by Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)

Josette Melchor said she launched an online fundraising page “in a moment of desperation” on Saturday, a few hours after hearing about the warehouse fire in Fruitvale, when only nine people were confirmed dead.

Just five days later, when the Alameda County Coroner's Office has announced that 36 people died in that Oakland warehouse blaze, the page has gathered more than half a million dollars from more than 9,000 donors. That breaks down to about $14,000 for each victim’s family to cover funeral costs, medical bills, and other emergency expenses.

“People didn’t have a place to direct their support,” she said. “I didn’t expect it to have this impact. But then again, I didn’t expect the size of this tragedy. I thought a lot of our friends would be found and rescued.”

She sat down with city emergency officials and Red Cross officials on Tuesday. She said they suggested pooling the funds.

“It wasn’t a hard ask, just a suggestion,” she said. “But our community gave us the funding because they trust us to keep it in the community.”

The Gray Area Foundation for the Arts is no stranger to six-figure fundraising. The organization dealt with displacement in San Francisco’s South of Market, mid-Market and Tenderloin neighborhoods, before finally finding a home in the Mission. Melchor led a campaign to raise $450,000 to renovate the Grand, a single-screen Art Deco movie theater on Mission Street that had been used as a dime store for years. Gray Area now has an operating budget of $1.1 million.

Melchor and her board welcome advice and guidance on distributing the funds, promise to provide transparence and remain committed to making sure the donations stay in the community.

“We’re trying to figure out how to be sensitive to transgender people, people who may have been cast out by their families, the nuances of our community,” she said.

Melchor chose YouCaring to raise money online because the site charges lower fees for each donation. Many other crowdfunding and charity websites take a cut of anywhere from 3 to 10 percent. YouCaring still has to pay credit card processing fees, so donors can add those fees (30 cents plus 2.9 percent) to each donation.

“This initial financial assistance helps for immediate emergency needs. The great thing about the A’s fund is that it’ll help them through the next stage of piecing lives together,” said Red Cross spokeswoman Cynthia Shaw.

The role of the Red Cross is to distribute emergency donations to clients, and provide meals, counseling to first responders at the site and at the family assistance center, Shaw said.

The Gray Area Foundation is a “well-known, reputable, engaging, and smart non-profit with a great team. They have the best of intentions. This community rallies together,” she added. “We shared some of our experiences and best practices. But it’s up to them to decide what’s fits the spirit of the funds they raised, the donor intent, and the mission of the organization.”

Melchor said the fundraising page will stay up as long as people want to give.